billsfan89

Although Bates has played a nice part I do also think that the O-line getting some continuity has been more impactful than anything else. The O-line to start the season was Dawkins at LT, Ford and Mongo at the guard positions, Mitch at center and D.Williams at RT. That is completely different than the line now. D.Williams is in guard and two new players in Spencer Brown and Bates are along the line. Also throughout the season various injuries such as Spencer Brown pulling his back and getting Covid, Mongo getting hurt, Dawkins got Covid, and Ike Bot getting hurt and Ford being pushed in and out of the lineup just never got the team any sense of continuity along the O-line. D.Williams started the season at RT kicked inside to guard then back out to RT and then now is back at guard. This is just one player moving around the line constantly throughout the season. LG has been a revolving door all season. Bates solidifying the LG spot with competent play has been tremendously helpful. But the line simply having a few games together with continuity has been in my opinion as big of a factor to the units improved play.

Boogie looked good, I think he has a future on the D-line as a player that can play all over the line. He can shift down to DT in obvious pass rushing situations and play DE in both running and passing situations. He has never looked bad to me but he also rarely made plays.

Let's get to the Super Bowl before worrying about that. Secondly while the blowout yesterday was sweet and the Bills have ended the season on a 4 game win streak (now 5 with a playoff win) you can make a case that all the Bills did was beat up on 3 losing teams (Carolina, Atlanta and the Jets) and beating up on the Pats twice. But if you want to be pessimistic the Pats were really bad to end the season outside of blowing out the Jaguars. They lost to the Colts and Fins in ugly efforts when not playing the Bills. Now I think the Bills are peaking at the right time but lets not talk Super Bowl just yet.

Playing at home is always preferable. But I don't fear anyone in the AFC at this moment.

Given that the Fins fired Flores for not liking Tua as a player and Philly made the playoffs with Hurts (and this isn't a strong QB draft class) I think both teams stick with their young QB's in 2022 at the very least.

Lee Smith was an OK role player but he was massively overpaid for such a niche position (blocking TE's are only becoming less relevant in the NFL). Having Doyle as a jumbo TE is better in my opinion. Doyle is a swing tackle backup who can perform Lee Smith's role about as well as he did with added value and a chance to develop into a high end depth piece or even starting caliber O-line player.

I hope he is fine, luckily the Bills have some depth at DE and rotate a lot. Between Groot, Hughes, Boogie, AJ and Efe they have the ability to find decent players to take the snaps. However, Addision is probably one of the better DE's on the roster esp in more clutch situations so it would be a loss but not a devastating one in my opinion.

I am rooting for the Steelers to pull the upset but I doubt that happens. I don't fear KC but going on the road is always less preferable.

It feels (and I am not trying to be a prisoner of the moment) that the Bills are peaking at the right time. I was worried that the Bills have mostly been beating up on bad teams in their recent streak. But since that second half come back against an elite Tampa Bay team the Bills have been finding themselves. They got right against the Panthers and then Josh had a fantastic game away against the Pats for control of the teams destiny and then the Bills beat up on two bad teams in Atlanta and the Jets despite Josh not having his best games. Then they go out and not just beat a Pats team (as they should have the Bills simply are the better team) but they wire to wire dominate the game. And two critical components are driving the offense. The O-line finally found a solid guard and got consistency. The O-line never had consistency. Mongo got hurt and Covid, Ike got hurt, Ford got yanked, Dawkins got Covid, and Spencer Brown got hurt and Covid. Now they have consistency and they found Bates at LG which has been at the worst solid. You now have an O-line unit that is the best 5 out there along with having played together for at least a few games now and a back in Singletary playing his best football for the team. Josh with all of that going is going to be really hard to stop!

The Patriots were the NFL's second best defense in the league in 2021. Josh Allen in back to back high leverage games led an offense that didn't punt. Hopefully the Bills are peaking at the right time.

I was so worried that it was a banana (racism has no place in football, if you are racist stop watching a league that is roughly 70% black men) when I first saw it live (kind of not an easy look live on TV). But then I remembered the ***** incident and quickly confirmed that it was a ***** and was relieved and laughed. It's pretty stupid funny in a juvenile way but it does make a fanbase that has a bit of a trashy reputation (the whole tables thing isn't exactly screaming class) look more trashy. I am all for fans enjoying themselves (I think the tables thing is fun if not taken to dangerous levels) as it is football and people deserve to let off some steam. But this tradition is one that is a bit too far in the wrong direction.

Billy B never spent big on free agency until last off-season. He also didn't go to the discount bin for Bourne and Algholor. Algholor was signed to a deal giving him 13 million a season and Bourne was given just over 7 million a season. Granted Algholor was a bust and Bourne turned out good (so mixed results) but the point is that the Pats have been acting out of character this past off-season and I think that Billy B is going to try and take advantage of having a QB on a rookie deal. The Pats will have about 40-50 million in cap space going into the off-season with 45ish players on the roster. They can likely resign JC Jackson and one or two of their other veteran players while still having enough money left over for rookies/emergencies and for a significant acquisition. That's enough to go "big game hunting" either via trade or via free agency. Looking at the 2022 free agency class and I am seeing a some quality WR's on the market. Devante Adams leads the class but I think he follows Rodgers but after Adams there are still some very good WR's on the market. Godwin, Mike Williams, Allen Robinson and Odell (although I don't think Odell wants to play with such a young QB nor does he fit with the culture/team) not sure where else they can go via trade but I could see the Pats trying to go after Godwin/Williams/Robinson to give Mac Jones some more fire power on the outside. Looking at the Pats I think they go the route of using the draft to sure up the foundation of the defense and adding an injection of talent at WR via free agency to try and make another run with Jones on his rookie deal. Will it work? I don't think so but if they have any hope of competing that's what they need to do.

Josh Allen had more TD’s than incompletions. ***** insane stat. This was a magical game for this team. It’s just one round there is still so much left to play but you can’t ask for a better way to start a playoff run. It is always fun to exercise the Pats demon at least for now. Going to just have fun tomorrow and Monday watching the games

It’s up there for sure. I can’t think of a better one at the moment!

Brandt is the best NFLN commentator by far. I love his passion and personality. He is correct about the Bills vs Pats. The Bills simply are the better team. I do expect Billy B to try and acquire a high end WR in the off-season. I think he has to know the offense needs its version of Diggs to free up the other good but not great targets. If the Pats can get an elite WR and develop Jones more they might have a better chance but that’s two hard asks and you have to hope an aging defense still can be a top 5 defense too.

Just insane to think of the Bills run of success in the McD era. Three playoff wins (and counting), back to back division titles, four playoff appearances, a young franchise QB on the team and 3 straight 10+ win seasons! All the while mercilessly beating the Pats in the playoffs at home and beating them 3 out of the 4 previous regular season games.

I think the Bengals at home while not an easy matchup is better than KC away. Burrow is a good QB and they have a solid team around him. But Mahomes is a much different player with the playoff pedigree and his team has more “elite” talent. I don’t expect the Steelers to win but I will be rooting for them. Either way just enjoy the win tonight and tomorrow watch some more hopefully good football!

That play by Hyde completely changes the complexion of the game. If the Pats score they gain confidence and keep pace at least early on in the game. Hyde makes an All Pro type play and the game is never in doubt.

Jones is a rookie and he played like one. Billy B due to his ability to coach well and consistently have a good defense and ST unit will be competitive even if Jones doesn’t progress too much. But piling up 10ish regular season wins and winning in the playoffs are two different things and QB play is what often separates good teams from contending teams. The Bills will have their hands full next week with either KC on the road or Cincy at home. But they couldn’t have asked for a better outcome for this game.

Bates has certainly helped but I think the Oline finally has been consistent. They had been shuffling around all season. Ford got swapped out and Mongo got hurt then Spencer Brown got hurt and Covid. Dawkins also missed a game or two. They finally have their best 5 out there and playing together. I always thought D Williams and Brown on the right side were good and Dawkins and Mitch quality players. So they just needed to play those 4 together and find someone at least decent at left guard. With Bates they found that left guard and the Oline has played better with a level of consistency. Assuming this team plays KC next week we will see how well the Oline can handle Jones on the interior.

The Eagles only win against a team with a winning record is against New Orleans. They piled up 5 wins against the Jets, Giants, Washington team twice and the Lions. Then 3 of their wins are against mediocre teams in the Broncos, Falcons and Panthers. Then you have their win against the Saints for their 9th win. So perhaps Hurts beating up against bad teams skews numbers.

Pats are looking really banged up going into this game. Wynn a key O-line player, Barmore a big time impactful rookie starting at DT, Lawrence Guy the other DT, and Hightower are all hurt and starting Corner Mills is on the Covid list as is his backup. That's a key O-line player and a lot of their defense that is out. Including players like Barmore, Guy and Hightower that bring a lot of physicality to the team. Although the weather makes me nervous for this game (bad weather always benefits an underdog) the injuries to a lot of their players that bring a lot of physicality are helping to hopefully limit their advantage controlling the line of scrimmage.

I think he attempts to coach another 5ish years. Now attempting to coach and actually doing the demanding job of coaching an NFL team is completely different. But I think if he could draw up his exit strategy it would be to coach out the next 4-6 years and then hand the team off to his son.

I stand corrected he got hurt in the third game of the season, for some reason I thought he got hurt in game 5. But in 2019 he was starting to come alive and then got hurt.

The first 5 games of 2019 he was starting to look like a breakout player then he tore his ACL (which then followed with a mid season slump in run defense) and he hasn’t looked the same until recently. Now he looks to be back on track.